WV Charles Town

[Zero]

Did you realize there are 5 separate pits--a six table blackjack pit at the west garage when you first come in, then a huge horseshoe pit BEFORE you get to the High Limit pit in which I have only seen non-blackjack games open, then the high limit pit, then another horseshoe pit close to the cashier, and finally the small pit by the buffet? When I was there, only the high limit pit and the horseshoe pit near the cashier were open, and maybe a couple of non-blackjack games in the giant horseshoe between the west garage and the high limit pit. I have been there 5 times and never seen the blackjack tables in three of the pits open, although I heard about the one near the buffet being open. Of course that may be owing to the fact that I was only there in midweek, but I did stay until 9:30 pm last Wednesday, so its not just a daytime phenomenon.

Yes, and you're right. The small pit is by the west garage, not the east. Go there on a Friday or Saturday night before midnight and you'll see every table open. I got there last night just after midnight and the cleaning crew was sweeping the felt on the tables in the small pit, so it had been open earlier. Again every table in the large horseshoe shaped pit was open with $25 mins (another note: the tables in the small pit and the large horseshoe pit are hand shuffled instead of ASM) The pit by the Epic Buffet is a non-smoking pit with $25 and $50 tables. And all the tables near the cashier are $50+ tables. They started closing tables in the big horseshoe pit ~2:50am and had the entire pit closed by 3:30am. After that I walked over to the pit near the cashier and noticed the non-smoking pit was already closed as well. Since they hadn't lowered the minimums on the tables by the cashier (why should they? they were all full) that meant that as of 3:30am there were no blackjack tables with a minimum below $50. I hung around a while and backcounted a few shoes. If one had turned exceptionally positive I may have thrown out a bet on top of another player, but that didn't happen and I called it a night about 4:30.

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[BlackjackEbberly]

There are seven pits at Hollywood Casino at Charles Town Races.

Pit 7 is located on the west end. That pit is hardly ever open except on Saturday nights when it gets exceptionally crowded. One Saturday evening I noticed a $15 blackjack table open at 11pm.

Pit 6 is the huge horseshoe shaped pit. They usually open some of those blackjack tables on Friday nights and one Saturday night they had ALL of the Pit 6 blackjack tables open, most of them set at $25.

Pit 5 is the High Limit area blackjack tables that run at $100 minimums and also offer S17. Pit 5 also has Baccarat tables.

The big wide open area in front of the Valet, where the shuttle will drop you off from the Inn and you walk into the casino, is where Pits 2, 3, and 4 are located. Pit 2 has blackjack tables and roulette; the Pit 2 blackjack tables are numbered 201,202,203, and 221, 222, and 223, Pit 3 is in the middle and has craps tables and blackjack tables, and Pit 4 is closest to the cashier where you cash out your chips and it offers blackjack, three card poker, four card poker, Texas Hold 'em and Let It Ride tables.

Pit 1 is right in front of the Epic Buffet. It is Non Smoking. It offers blackjack, roulette and three card poker. I'm a bit fuzzy about all the games offered in Pit 1, could be others. Friday night they often open a $15 blackjack table.

 

[Zero]

UPDATE:

• Friday night (10/15): about half of the tables in the big horseshoe shaped pit were open. They were all $25 min. Again the casino started closing the tables ~2:50 am with all the tables closed by 3:30am. The small 6 table (5 blackjack tables) pit by the west garage was closed. The non-smoking pit by the Epic buffet was open and had TWO $15 tables. They were both full with a queue, but at least they existed. That pit was shutdown about the same time as the horseshoe pit. The main pits near the entrance had a mix of $50 and $25 tables. They were down to 6 tables open when I left ~5:00am.
• Saturday night (10/16): every table in the horseshoe pit was open. All $25. All 5 of the tables in the small pit near the west garage were open. ALL $15! That pit was shutdown between 11:30 and midnight. There was only one $15 table in the non-smoking pit. All the rest were $25.

...so it looks like Hollywood Charles Town has finally started burning out the locals and the minimums are starting to come down. When I arrived at the casino ~9:30pm on Saturday there was more than 1 table with an empty seat. Some even had 2. Friday and Saturday are still the only nights I see the big horseshoe shaped pit open though.

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[aslan]

UPDATE:

• Friday night (10/15): about half of the tables in the big horseshoe shaped pit were open. They were all $25 min. Again the casino started closing the tables ~2:50 am with all the tables closed by 3:30am. The small 6 table (5 blackjack tables) pit by the west garage was closed. The non-smoking pit by the Epic buffet was open and had TWO $15 tables. They were both full with a queue, but at least they existed. That pit was shutdown about the same time as the horseshoe pit. The main pits near the entrance had a mix of $50 and $25 tables. They were down to 6 tables open when I left ~5:00am.
• Saturday night (10/16): every table in the horseshoe pit was open. All $25. All 5 of the tables in the small pit near the west garage were open. ALL $15! That pit was shutdown between 11:30 and midnight. There was only one $15 table in the non-smoking pit. All the rest were $25.

...so it looks like Hollywood Charles Town has finally started burning out the locals and the minimums are starting to come down. When I arrived at the casino ~9:30pm on Saturday there was more than 1 table with an empty seat. Some even had 2. Friday and Saturday are still the only nights I see the big horseshoe shaped pit open though.

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The only way they will ever fill all those tables is by lowering their mins. They seem to be following a strategy of keeping many of their tables shut down when they cannot command a min of $25 or more (with a few $15 tables thrown in for good measure at selected times). That will increasingly result in fewer and fewer full tables. I agree that this will force Hollywood to lower mins in the end----either that, or remove bj tables and replace them with more carney games (let it ride, 3CP, 4CP, PaiGow, hold'em, etc.)

 

[Dave2112]

Has anyone seen a 6'5 blond guy in his 30's acting really obnoxious? I've sen him in the HL pit with a large stack of pumpkins as well as at the $25 tables with like $200. I see him there almost every time I go. He never bothered me but It did seem like he was trying to distract other players. One time he was in the HL pit at a table by himself demanding for a reshuffle very loudly, making a huge scene. "I'm walking away! If I leave the table you have to spread the cards out right? and slamming his palm on the table.

I saw this guy in action again tonight. He was on the $50 table closest to the no smoking pit harassing a couple of stereotypical AP looking guys.

His hair is actually light brown, buzzcut and he was wearing a blue/white striped button down shirt and jeans. He stands alot while "playing" and always makes a scene. You can see his eyes shift rapidly over the board while his head is straight as he counts.

Does anyone know his name?

Also I saw at least one $15 table tonight.

 

[pit15]

I saw this guy in action again tonight. He was on the $50 table closest to the no smoking pit harassing a couple of stereotypical AP looking guys.

His hair is actually light brown, buzzcut and he was wearing a blue/white striped button down shirt and jeans. He stands alot while "playing" and always makes a scene. You can see his eyes shift rapidly over the board while his head is straight as he counts.

Does anyone know his name?

Also I saw at least one $15 table tonight.

What an idiot. There's no reason to be a dick to command a shuffle up. If you're at a table with other players, just drop out, if you're the only one at the table, after losing a couple hands just say you don't want to play this shoe anymore. Ploppies do this too, bitch about how it's a bad shoe and stop playing it.

 

[aslan]

What an idiot. There's no reason to be a dick to command a shuffle up. If you're at a table with other players, just drop out, if you're the only one at the table, after losing a couple hands just say you don't want to play this shoe anymore. Ploppies do this too, bitch about how it's a bad shoe and stop playing it.

I'm wondering how many thousands he may have been losing? People sometimes lose control when they get in over their heads. Not that it justifies their behavior, but it does help put it into perspective.

 

[Dave2112]

I'm wondering how many thousands he may have been losing? People sometimes lose control when they get in over their heads. Not that it justifies their behavior, but it does help put it into perspective.

His exteme interest in other player's hands and his interaction with them leads me to believe he works there and his job is to distract possible AP's until they leave or start making enough mistakes.

 

[Zero]

It's been a while since we've had an update here. Not sure if I should start a new thread for 2011 or just keep this one going.

I just got back from Charles Town and conditions are worse than ever (well maybe they're still better than the fiasco that was opening week, but not by much). This place seriously needs some competition. I arrived just after 11:00pm and was stunned as I walked around. The last time I was here on a Saturday night there were several $15 tables (they were full but they existed) and I was able to wong out on the $25 tables with ease. There always seemed to be a $25 table or two with an open seat. That was certainly not the case tonight. Every BJ table in every pit was open, and there wasn't a single $15 table in sight. I had to queue up for a seat at a $25 table.

All tables in pits 1, 2, 3, and 4 were $50 min. Pit 7 was all $25 (all 5 tables), and Pit 6 was mostly $25 with 3 $50 tables (or maybe it was 4). Final count: 21x $50 tables and 18x $25 tables. And the Hi-Limit pit was $200 min. There were open seats at several of the $50 tables but all the $25 tables were packed (and if anyone wants to play some $25 min 2x odds craps, they have plenty of that too). This made it impossible to wong in, and very difficult to wong out. I had 3 shoes in a row go below TC -1. I headed to the bathroom on the first one, then took a cell phone call on the second. When the third shoe went south I figured I had two choices, either leave the table and spend the next half hour or so waiting for an open seat, or play it... so I played it.

It takes me an hour to get to Charles Town. I generally have a 5 to 6 hour window for travel plus play time. The next closest casino is in Grantville. That's 2.5 hours away. When you combine the poorer rules in Charles Town with the conditions (EV of 0 while waiting for a seat, not being able to wong as much as I should, and all 5 dealers I played against were cutting 2 decks out of 8) my EV for 1 hour of play in Grantville is about the same as 4 hours in Charles Town. I just can't bring myself to drive 5 hours for 1 hour of table time. So it looks like I'll be going back on hiatus again.

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[aslan]

It's been a while since we've had an update here. Not sure if I should start a new thread for 2011 or just keep this one going.

I just got back from Charles Town and conditions are worse than ever (well maybe they're still better than the fiasco that was opening week, but not by much). This place seriously needs some competition. I arrived just after 11:00pm and was stunned as I walked around. The last time I was here on a Saturday night there were several $15 tables (they were full but they existed) and I was able to wong out on the $25 tables with ease. There always seemed to be a $25 table or two with an open seat. That was certainly not the case tonight. Every BJ table in every pit was open, and there wasn't a single $15 table in sight. I had to queue up for a seat at a $25 table.

All tables in pits 1, 2, 3, and 4 were $50 min. Pit 7 was all $25 (all 5 tables), and Pit 6 was mostly $25 with 3 $50 tables (or maybe it was 4). Final count: 21x $50 tables and 18x $25 tables. And the Hi-Limit pit was $200 min. There were open seats at several of the $50 tables but all the $25 tables were packed (and if anyone wants to play some $25 min 2x odds craps, they have plenty of that too). This made it impossible to wong in, and very difficult to wong out. I had 3 shoes in a row go below TC -1. I headed to the bathroom on the first one, then took a cell phone call on the second. When the third shoe went south I figured I had two choices, either leave the table and spend the next half hour or so waiting for an open seat, or play it... so I played it.

It takes me an hour to get to Charles Town. I generally have a 5 to 6 hour window for travel plus play time. The next closest casino is in Grantville. That's 2.5 hours away. When you combine the poorer rules in Charles Town with the conditions (EV of 0 while waiting for a seat, not being able to wong as much as I should, and all 5 dealers I played against were cutting 2 decks out of 8) my EV for 1 hour of play in Grantville is about the same as 4 hours in Charles Town. I just can't bring myself to drive 5 hours for 1 hour of table time. So it looks like I'll be going back on hiatus again.

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How far is Dover Downs from you? S17 6-deck 75% pen hand shuffle It is two hours from Fairfax, VA. Also, Harrington, DEL is about the same (97 miles)